Uplifting and Lively Messages. No holds barred..
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Hi everyone,
I would like to join you group ... you all seem to be positive about diagnosis and I need that for sure. I live in Canada so health insurance issues not applicable but the whole world is watching what is happening to you. I don't think there is a day that goes by that I don't encounter someone talking about your current president and his administration.
I awaiting an ultrasound after having my mammogram show no new evidence of disease but the dr found some thickening, so I have a little bit of a wait for an ultrasound. She said not to worry...but yah right...not so easy.
Wishing you all an excellent weekend in the garden.
Hugs, Teresa
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Welcome, Snowgirl!!! Glad to have you join us. In a world with so much negativity, we need a place to talk about the good things and lift each other up. My mammogram and ultrasound took 1.5 hours just two weeks ago. I kept getting called to the back, called to the back for more imaging. But, it was fine and they watch us like hawks. For the gals that choose to do lumpectomy, your radiologist, MO, BS have tissue to examine once or twice a year, and that is a good thing. Even with a bit of thickening, could it be from the area of radiation therapy?
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It has taken me all day long to walk 5 miles. Usually it goes by quickly, but I had to break it up into 5000, 2000, 3000, increments to get to 10,000 steps. I have been very productive clearing out a room in the basement/lower level for my son to use. He has 1/2 of the basement and wanted my work out area which is a finished room. I have been motivated to get rid of alot of stuff and am not done yet. Tomorrow, I will visit with a new friend who just had a lumpectomy with my BS. She is doing great and we will catch up. I have to get through the grunge work and walking, so that I can have fun!!!
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Yesterday, I visited another woman who just had a lumpectomy. It was by chance we met, and I spoke with her most days by phone from diagnosis through surgery. She said that it was calming to know what to expect from someone who had gone through the surgery, etc. I don't think anyone understands the fear that breast cancer patients face with the initial diagnosis. If someone had walked me through what was going to happen, it would have been a comfort to me. I think that the BS, MO, RO, need a network of women willing to support newly diagnosed patients, not a support group, a one on one interaction. I think Breastcancer.org does a great job as an online source, but many women don't find it until after the surgery. I try to message the newly diagnosed patients on this website to give advice and uplifting messages. I wonder if any organization does an outreach program for newly diagnosed women? Maybe a hotline? What do you girls think?
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michelle - the American Cancer Society has the Reach to Recovery Program, which is basically what you are describing. Many communities also have one on one support through smaller organizations. Here is a link:
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/support-programs-and-services/reach-to-recovery.html
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Hi Michelle and everybody else here --- I'd like to join this group please.
My mastectomy was almost two years ago (!) followed by six cycles of chemo, then herceptin injections through the beginning of last November. I was switched from Arimidex to Femara just before Christmas for suspected allergic reaction. The beginning of this year was hard, with two separate bouts of high fever chest infections, two scares (luckily not cancer spread) then old back problems, and brand new knee problems. And my dear sweet soul-mate dog had to be put to sleep. Through most of the invasive therapy, I was a high anxiety scared-to-death mess, despite starting psychotherapy for that. It has only been these past couple months that I've finally been able to crawl out of that h*ll of dark scary fears and grab hold of life again. Yes, I've gotten wonderful support here, and since last spring from our local support group, but it's taken this long to actually feel the smiles I put on my face. But to DH and therapist and anybody else wh says it's a stupid shame I wasted so much time being miserable, I say Better late than never, at least I'm pretty much ok now
I love your idea of a thread for positive thoughts
Spring is late this year, but today the birch leaves have finally started to open. In Finland this is called Hiirenkorva Aika -- the time when tree leaves look like tiny mouse ears
Only lasts a day or two before they're "just plain leaves" so it's special 
Happy Spring
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Hello to our sister in Finland!! Tessu, welcome to a thread dedicated to lifting others up!! It sounds like you have been through alot and faced your demons. We have all be in the high anxiety/scared to death situation. The good news is that you have this in your rear view mirror and have the experience now to deal with whatever comes your way. In the beginning, we are all in shock, but it gets better. I am glad that you were able to crawl out of your misery and rejoin your life in progress. You did not waste time going through the emotions as there is no timetable for such a huge range of emotions we experience. Glad to know you are ok now!!
Special K, thanks for that link. It might be good to look into at a later date.
Whomever may read this thread, please say a little prayer for a missing child in Manchester who was attending the Ariana Grande concert. Her parents are looking for her in the hospitals, etc. I pray that she is found alive and well.
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tessu - Welcome! The range of emotions you described sounds familiar to me and is I believe, another one of the many shared experiences we BC sisters go through. Here's to making it through and "springing" back. Lovely photo and thanks for the cultural exchange re: spring in Finland. Kittos paljon! (Thanks very much!) Thought you might be interested to know that in the USA, a very popular program called 60 Minutes did a feature not too long ago on Finland being the happiest country in the world!
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Tessu, welcome! I've been trying to decide where to go on vacation next year and I've just started to read a little about Finland and have it on my wish list. Praying your smiles get bigger and more wonderful and natural feeling as time goes by. We have all been where you are in the world of being scared.
Michelle, such a sad outcome for the missing girl. My heart and prayers go out to all families members of this horrible event. 🙏💜🙏
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I feel bad for the parents of the girl and boy who attended the concert. Prayers to all of Manchester.
My daughter is in Florida on a little vaca. She sent me a snapchat video showing the rain down there. It was captioned, "it's raining men." Too funny. We have seen too much rain in Illinois and farmers are having to replant fields. I have been working in the basement, except for yesterday. Today we have a bit of sun, for which I am so thankful. I plan to run errands and get out of the house today. What is everyone up to for Memorial Day?
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Michelle, I've ordered all my pool opening supplies from Amazon and most of them will be here tomorrow so I'll be cleaning the pool all weekend. I may get DH to take me out to my celibratory steak dinner on Saturday night. My port is coming out ASAP! Can't be soon enough for me!
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Yeah, pool time.... was pulling weeds yesterday thinking about lounging at the pool. I have to be careful of the sun, due to having radiation on my chest. If I get hot, I can get a small radiation recall rash. Just made baked spaghetti with meat marinara and loads of cheese for hubby and son. They are building a small village, for our friends. I am going to run out and do some fun things today. Thank God it is not raining.
I have been doing some reading on other threads, and see a lot of fear - fear of diagnosis, fear of surgery, fear of radiation, fear of anti hormonals, etc. my best advice is try not to dwell and overthink everything until necessary. From someone who dwells, it is not worth it. Have a great day
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Tamoxifen gets a bad rap... and it really is not that hard of a med to take. I am going to call the phenomenon what it is, "Tamoxifear." There is so much damaging gossip on the internet about this medication, no wonder women worry about taking it and worry when they do take it. It was developed in the 1960s, was further researched in the 1970s, became an anti cancer drug in the 1980s, and has been studied, and studied some more.
I chose Tamoxifen when it was discovered that I had a bit of osteopenia in my hip bone and that I needed dental implants. Both conditions did not warrant taking an AI which can cause osteoporosis, and with a bone builder, osteonecrosis of the jaw. For someone like me, with alot of dental work, it was not worth the risk. I think choosing an anti hormonal, taking an anti hormonal and being confident about taking the anti hormonal, is the hardest part of the breast cancer journey. (I did not have chemo, so I really can't compare to that.)
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One plus side of our unusually cold spring this year: my narcisus blossoms haven't even begun to fade
Spring flowers always fill me with hope and joy
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Michelle, we can give our MOs credit for creating that fear. The list of "possible" SEs on the drug fact sheet can be mentally debilitating to some already terrified of just having BC as you've already mentioned. I've met a few women who's lives came to a screeching halt due to excruciating muscle and bone pain while on Tamoxifen, that doesn't mean I'd have the same effects. Everyone's body reacts differently and no one should go by the SEs Tamoxifen caused one person for their own SEs, as they may have none. I've been in menopause for the past 12 years and then had a complete hysterectomy 7 years ago, so no worries there for me of uterine cancer but not all are that fortunate. I'm on Arimidex and the SEs for it are many, so far nothing but needing to go back to taking a nap mid day. It should get better with time so I can handle that. 😊
I stepped out my front door this morning and was welcomed by the scent of honeysuckle, birds singing and a pool begging to be topped off with water. The rain is coming but the sun is shining in my world.
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Michelle - You succintly capture the dilemma of the anti-hormonals. After much debating, giving Arimidex a try. MO was very understanding about my misgivings - convinced me to at least try. None of our choices on this BC journey are easy, but feel good about throwing everything I can into the mix to fight the beast. I too did not have chemo, so cannot compare.
Tessu - Flowers are mother nature's way of making the saying "hope springs eternal" ring true.
Lori - Glad your experiences with Arimidex have been ok thus far. Wish I had the luxury of an afternoon nap, too, but work makes that impossible. Lucky you that you can baby yourself. PM me sometime and we can work on meeting up over the summer. You are only about 2 hrs 45 mins away, or we could meet up in Indianapolis?
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Thanks for the flowers, Tessu!!! What is daily life like in Finland? My son lived in Switzerland during a semester abroad during fall of 2016. He loved it and traveled every weekend to a different country and large urban area. He took the train, buses, and planes and said it was inexpensive to fly. What an adventure was found in Europe!!
I just looked at the population of Finland - 5.5 million, Russia 144 million,France 66 million, USA 321 million, Chicago metro area 9.4 million, China 1.37 billion, India 1.31 billion. Now I have perspective, USA has a billion less persons than other countries, and Finland is the size of Chicago. So, I imagine that nature, family, health, exercise,culture, food and successful careers are popular in Finland. As someone said earlier, Finland is ranked as the #7 happiest country in the world.
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Trying to come up with nicknames for the anti hormonals - already have Tamoxifear, how about Arimedexascanfirstplease, aromisanity, anastysol, femarichristiana (like hari christiana), letrazoo, exemenmybrainplease. Did I leave any out? I am grateful that we have medications to take, but we do see side effects. I don't think it is inappropriate to poke a little fun at the names. The girls have to have a little fun, right? If I have offended anyone, I apologize. If I have forgotten any names, please offer up your own nicknames.
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re: AIs:
After 6 mos. on letrozole, I switched myself back to anastrozole (I had bought a 3-mo. supply just before my MO switched me to letrozole for a suspected allergic rash. Letrozole has been h*ll -- pain in every joint and muscle except my toes (go figure), so much that even with naprosyn or tylenol, Pilates hurt too much to enjoy or even do correctly. Also raised my blood pressure. Now after almost a week back on anastrazole,my blood pressure is back down, and I don't hurt half as much. When the rash was proven by Dermatology to not be allergic, I had asked my MO to let me switch back, but he said no. So --- I'm simply not going to say anything to him until I need my script renewed. #rebel #qualityoflife
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re: Finland
The city I live in has about 100,000 counting suburbs. There is a forest and small mountain with tons of hiking trails on the other side from me (15 min. by car; I'm not up to walking that before hiking anymore...). There are also several other smaller forests which are great for walking/hiking. The main part of the city is a hand-shaped peninsula surrounded by a beautiful lake, and one of my favorite walking parks is itself a thin peninsula around which water birds nest in the rushes in the summer
Fun to follow the little baby birds The city center is unfortunately sort of dying since construction of a huge shopping mall just outside the city, which is a shame, bc I hate having to drive out for good shopping other than food 
But we have a good library, music center, small but nice natural history- and art museums, several good restaurants etc. I feel safe here, which is a big plus. Grammar school kids can walk/bike to and from school and play outdoors without fear --- I've read how parents in the States can get fined for letting their kids play in their own yard while parents are not physically outside right there with them ---- true? No, this is not a paradise; especially restrictions on trade with Russia, agricultural restrictions that do not take into account Finland's difficult climate, and high membership payments to the EU have hurt the economy. But it's home and I'm comfortable here 0 -
Such beauty in the sky last night.
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wenchlori How lovely!
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Tessu, that is exactly what I thought Finland would be like!!! Parents don't get fined for letting their children play outside unsupervised, but it is risky behavior. I have seen children playing in the streets, near the edge of streets, riding their bikes without a parent. It always makes me nervous, and if they are really small I will track down their parent. One time, I saw twin baby boys, in diapers, walking near a busy intersection. I parked my car, chased them down the sidewalk until we came upon a home that was familiar to them. I told their parents, one of which whom fell asleep, that I found them trying to cross a busy intersection. It really upsets me to see things like that happen. I have twin older sisters who painted me with tar when I was one, and scaled a tv antenna to walk along the peak of the roof. The priest who lived next door came over and told my mom, "Dorothy, your kids are on the roof!!" Kids will be kids and always thinking up new ways to escape.
So, in regard the trade restrictions with Russia, what does that mean on a daily basis for your family? I am just curious because I did not know of this type of situation.
Lori, thanks for the pretty pic!!
CeliaC, keeps us updated on how you are doing on the medication.
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Michelle, the trade restrictions do not affect us personally (we're not farmers) but have overall weakened the economy. Agree with you, kids will be kids. I recently posted a photo into our neighborhood FB page of some neighborhood kids balance-walking on the railing of a local bridge (recognized them as local, but didn't know who their parents were, so couldn't contact directly). Parents posted thanks
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Tessu, you should have posted "Cops?" or "Chidren's Welfare System?" that probably would have captured their attention a bit more. In my area, basketball is huge. We have sent several players to the NBA and many to college. That encourages parents and younger kids to put basketball hoops in the streets, which also encourages younger kids to go into the streets. I am in a town the size of yours, but we have to always be on the lookout for kids in the road. When I taught my kids to driv, I told them drive slow, so theycan react quick. I would randomly yell, "ball" (no cars were behind) and that signaled them to break. Basically, I taught them that the road is an obstacle course and you have to be 150% aware at all times. (of course I got called names, like ..... old lady....granny....old fashioned.....of which none apply......I labeled myself as "smart" "foresee" "visualize." I think they did learn a thing or two from me, says the wife of a man who rolls stop signs. I always come to a full stop and the kids/hubby call me "parker." Ugh.
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Well, today was fairly productive. Still sorting through an accumulation of 25 years of "stuff" and donating most to Goodwill, etc. It really does feel good to get rid of things that are not necessary. I am planning ways to further condense what we keep. I doubt I will ever be a minimalist, but owning less personal items is a start. I have noticed that I wear alot of black, navy, white, and gray. I have donated so much stuff that is colorful. I want to let my jewelry be the centerpieces for my wardrobe, with my clothes being the backdrop.
Tonight I cooked butterfly porkchops encrusted in parmesean cheese and breadcrumbs, for my husband and son. I don't eat pork, and my daughter won't eat my cooking.
I don't think I did things in the right order though. I first put the cheese on the chop, followed by egg and breadcrumbs with some salt and pepper. Then I popped them into the over for 30 minutes. The breadcrumbs were not browning, so I tossed them into my cast iron skillet with hot olive oil. I lost some of the crust because it stuck to my cast iron skillet. 
Next time I will brown my crust first by using the cast iron skillet, then put in oven. My husband said that they were good, I have no idea. It is hard to make things for others that you don't eat yourself.0 -
This is my first post on this thread, but I have been following it from the beginning...its arrival in December was perfect timing for me as I was forced to postpone my Dec 28th exchange surgery when my mother had a stroke on Dec 8th and I became her primary caregiver. I needed some good news.
Well, I don't have new news on when I will have my exchange but I do have some good/positive news to share, so thought I would finally make a post.
Tomorrow is my one year anniversary of my MX. Wow, was I an overwhelmed person last June 2nd! ...but what a year, overall I have been healthier, have lost 30lbs, and tomorrow leave for France with DH as we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary next week. Definitely need to celebrate life.
I do look forward to eventually not having the alien being in my chest called a TE, but it is peacefully there and I have been told having it for 1.5 to 2 years would not be a problem which allows me quality time with my mother.
Happy start to summer (it is summer in Virginia).
TT
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TrmTab, welcome to Uplifting and Lively Messages!! Sorry to hear that your mom had a stroke. How old is she and how is she doing now? It does seem, at least to me, that a breast cancer diagnosis comes along with several other events going on in our lives at the same time. Mine came along with a mugging, and my son's jaw wired shut for 4 weeks. I don't know which was worse.
Good to know you are doing better and will be off on a journey with your husband. I really wanted to take an extended vaca in France this year. But, alas, I am a chicken. Congrats on getting through the first year after diagnosis and surgery. Somehow, I know these dates will forever be imprinted in our minds. And, that is okay. We will remember the date and we will remember to live each day. Getting this diagnosis is a huge wake your butt up call, and can inspire us to actually get healthier. Thirty pounds down, way to go. I am happy to be getting rid of unwanted pounds as well and push myself to walk just about every day 5 miles. Sometimes I walk more, sometimes I walk less. I feel really good.
Good luck on your travels and I want to hear about your trip when you return home!!! Safe journey....
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Michelle
Thanks for the welcome and I'll report back on my return...interesting times to be in France with their elections over the next two weeks and our interesting events here.
Re my mom (82), like many others, she was in the hospital with a minor concern, and had a stroke while in the hospital. Fortunately is wasn't a "massive" stroke, but unfortunately it wasn't caught by the nurses in time to administer the new miracle drugs, so we have had a long winter/spring of PT and slow recovery. My surgery needs to be postponed until she is strong enough so I don't have to provide any kind of assist...I was on a 5 lbs weight limit for a month and then 10lbs for another month after MX...so I couldn't even carry my briefcase to work let alone help someone up or down steps.
Given my delay, I decided to really push on the exercise and lose some of the weight that had creeped up on me my while life took over. I do love Mr. Fitbit, plus do yoga/pilates. Since I am a UMX, the implant will be smaller than my native breast (they removed 1100cc and the implant will be 800)...but after 30 lbs, they are soon to be the same size if I can lose some more...maybe 10?
Just checked in for my flights tomorrow...yeah!!!
TT
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Trm Tab, I'm glad to hear your Mom is doing well. What a scary situation!
Here's my visitor from earlier tonight. Such beauty in small creatures or should I say large moths?
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